Internal-combustion engine



L. N. cAu'sAN y INTERNAL AcoMu'sTIoN ENGINE or'igp'al Filed Aug. 26; 192s.

Feb. 5, 1929. I

.INVENToR L.N.Causan ATTORNEY- Patented Feb. 5, 1921-9.l

" UNITED STATES;

1,701,300 PATENT OFFICE.

LAURENT NE'MomN eAUsAN, on sUREsNES, FRANCE., As'sreNon To wEsTrNGnoUsE ELECTRIC e MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A coRPoRATroNoE PENNsYLvAN1A.-

INTEENAL-COMEUSTION ENGINE.

Original application led August 2, A1926, Serial No.

ff 1928. Seria A further object of my invention is to pro-- vide an opposed piston two-stroke engine o`f the square or other polygonaltypehaving the cylinders provided with admission and exhaust ports so disposed and 'having the crank shafts so arranged that the cylinders will be effectively seavenged and supercharging will be effected. j

A further object of my invention is to provide an engine having a polygonal arrangement of cylinders with crankshafts at the l corners thereof connected `Inechanicallyto a driven Inemberof hollow formation to provide'for armament purposes.'

'These and other objects are effected by'my invention,'as will be apparent from, the following description and claims taken in coli'- nection -with the accompanying drawings,

forming a part of this application, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view of my improved engine;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 and showing the Igearing for connecting a crank shaft to the driven member; f f

F 3 is a sectional view of a. cylinder taken through ports;

Fig. lis a diagram showing closing of the admission and exhaust ports together; and

Fig; 5, is a diagram showing how the exhaust portcontrolling pistons lead the admission port controlling pistons. f

Referring to Fig. 1, the engine taken as an example con'iprises one orv more polygonal groups of cylinders 10, each group includingr an even number of cylinders, for example, four. A power shaft is shown at 11; and, at a suitable point thereof, is keyed a gear wheel 12 engaging four pinions 13 arranged. symmetrically relativelyto` the axis of the engine and actuated by the'crank shafts 14:.of the engines. The gearing described could of course be replaced Aby any other means.'l

The engine'properly so called,of which the, shaft 11 .is at the center' (Fig. 1) comprises as above stated one or more groups of cylinvders which are in .the symmetrical .position relatively to' the vertical vplane passing `through the center ofthe said gearing.,

Asa whole, the engine thus comprises one or more polygonalgroups ofcyl'inders or elements 10, .each group having an even number of cylinders,l coacting with pistons 15, Veach cylinder having twoo'pposed pistons, as above The connecting -rodsf17--and 18, connected .to pistons 15 in adjacent cylinder end portions and coacting with a givencrankl are.

disposed as follows: The rod 17 has a forkcd l .end ,20 and ismounted upon the ring 21 (Figs.

' 1 and 2) which rolls -ilpon the crank 16 through the medium Oftworoller bearings 22; the other rod18rolls upon the ring' 21 and upon the roller'bearing 23.

,ports e, e andfwith admission ports a, aft-he ports being covered and uncovered by the lpis-' tons.` In Fig. 1; the two uppermost andthe 131,752. Divided and this application led April 18, v

Each .cylinder 10 vis provided with exhaust two'lowermost pistons 15 control theexhaust l ports e, e while admission through the ports l a, a Vis eontrolledby the two' pistons vat the r1ght' and by the two pistons at'the` left, In 'other"words, the exhaust port-s ,'e are located at alternate adjacent end. portions of the cyl` nders and the' admissionlports'a, a 4are loi cated at the 1ema1n1ngadjacent end portions o'f the cylinders; and,'in operation, the pisv 4'tons 15 eonnected'to alternate crank shafts 16 control the exhaust .ports c whileV the Apistons lconnected to the remaining-crank shafts control the'admission ports a.

Upon reference to Figsjl and, itrwiil be seen that alternate crank shafts 14 to which the pistoris controlling` the exhaust ports c, e

are connected are arrangedto lead angularly the remalning crank shafts to which the pistons controlling the admission ports a, a

' are connected` This leading feature is elear- ,ly indicated in Fig. 5 wherein the are OE- vFE represents opening of the exhaust ports V e, a While the are OA-FArepresents .opening of the admission ports a, a; and, from this diagrammatic view, it will be seen'that the exhaust 'ports e, e 'are opened before and elosedbefore the-admission ports a, a. As

4the exhaust ports,e open before the admis'- sion ports (1, a: it is possible for'products of combustion to'fexhaust from the cylinders before scavenging medium is admitted through the admission ports a, a. Furthermore, as the ing a supereharging effect.

exhaust ports e are closed before the admission port-s a, a are closed, itwill be evident that medium continues to be' admitted through the` admission ports a, a after the exhaust ports e, e are closed, thereby producln Fig. 4, l' show a mode of regulation wherein the admissionand exhaust ports are closed at the same' time.

'shafts in Iorder to obtain the relative opening and closing of thel exhaust and admission ports, as indi fated in Figs. 4 and 5, is secured either by slight angular displacen'ient of the y cranks or by a slight displacement of the cylinders. y

A coinjnessor of any suitable type (not shown), may bev used to' supply inediunr for entry through the admission ports a.

The driven shaft 1l is preferably made hollow as indicated at in order to provide for the passage of a gun barrel or projectiles tired therefrom. This-is aparticularly cesirable feature of construction Where the en-v gine is to be used for military aviation purioses.

l From the foregoing, it will be apparentthat l have provided a square or polygon form of engine of theopposed piston type, each cylinder of which is provided with' spaced admission and exhaustvports, such ports being controlled by the opposed pistons. In order to facilitate the exhaust of products of combustion from the cylinders and to provide an incidental scavenging effect, it is desirable that the exhaust port controlling piston of each l cylinder shall lead the admission port controlling piston in order that the exhaust por-ts may open before the admission ports and close before the latter. To this end, l connect alternate crank .shafts tothe exhaust port controlling pistons and connect the remainingcrank shafts to the admission port con- -trolling pistons, the first -crank shafts being given a suitable, angle of lcadwith respect to the remaining crank shafts so that thev exhaust port controlling pistons'may lead the admission port controllingpistons to the desired extent. ils each crank pin of a crank Ishaft is connected to a pair of pistons arranged in the adjacent ends of a pair of cylinders, it will be apparent that the leading effect Which is referred to may be readily incorporated in an engine of this character nerely by having alternate crank shafts lead the'remaining crank shafts.

. f While li have shown my invention in but l one form, it Willbe obvious to those skilled in the` artthft it is notiso limited, but is susceptible of vario'us changes and modifications Without departing from the spiritthereof, and li desire, therefore, that only such limitations shalllbe placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically setv forth in .the-appended claims.

; monaco i Whatlclaim is: i z 1. ln an internal combustion engine having cylinders disposed in polygonal forma-- tion, each cylinder having spaced admission A tions of thecylinder-s, opposed pistons lin The necessary angular setting of the crank the cylinders' for covering and yuncovering the admission and exhaust ports, crank shafts connected to the pistons, and means for interconnecting tlie crank shafts for operation in unison and providing foi-.the exhaust port controlling pistons leading' .the admission ,port controlling pistons so that the'exliaust ports may open beforethe admission and close beforeV the latter. l

2. In an internalcombustion engine, the

ports combination of a plurality of alternately disposed cylinders and crank shafts arranged in polygonal. formation With the crank'shafts at corner regions thereof, each cylinder being provided with spaced admission and exhaust openings', the exhaustopenings of the cylinders being arranged adjacent to'. alternate corner regions of the formation While the admission ports 'are arranged adjacent to the remaining cornerv regions of the formation, opposed pistons in the cylinders and connected tot-he crank shafts, `and being arranged to cover. and to uncover the admission and eX- liaust openings, and means for interconnecting the crankshafts foroperation in unison 'and providing for the crank shafts to Whichthe exhaust port controlling pistons are connected leading the remaining crank shafts to which the admission port controlling pistons are connected, 'whereby the exhaust portsI of each cylinder are opened before the ad.- inission ports and are closed before the latter.

3.' In an. internal combustion engine, the con'ibination of a plurality of cylinders disposed in polygonal formation, admission and exhaust ports provided in thel respective end portions of each cylinder the admission ports of the 4cylinders being arranged at alternate adjacent end vportions of the cylinders and theexhaust ports being arranged at the remaining adjacent end portions of the cylinders, crank shafts disposed at 'corners of the polygon, alternate l crank shafts being arranged to'lead the remaining crank shafts,- opposed pistons in the cylinders 'arranged to cover and uncover the admission andexhaus-t ports,` respectively, means for connect-.-

ing the pistons controlling` the admission ports .to alternate crank shafts with two pisfio tons connected lto each crank portion, means I for connecting the pistons'controllingithe exhaust' ports'to 4.the remaining crank shaftsV with two pistons connected to each crank portion, the pistons associated with the exhaust ports being connecting to the leading ,crankshafts 'and the pistons associated ,With-idg@ .i

.are opened before the admission ports and are closed before the latter, and means for interconnecting the crank shafts for opera tion in unison.

4. In an internalv combustion engine, the combination of an even number of cylinders arranged in polygonal formation and having' substantially eo-planar axes, each cylinder having spaced admission and exhaust ports, the exhaust ports being arranged at alternate adjacent end portions of the cylinders and the admissionports'being arranged at'the remaining adjacent end portions of the cyl.- inders, opposed pist'nsin each cylinder and covering and uncovering the admission and exhaust ports thereof, respectively, crank shafts alternately arranged With respect to the cylinders and located at'corners of the polygonal formation, alternay nit shafts loeated adjacent to exhaust ene.

the cylinders leading 4angularly the, remaining crank shafts locatedadjacent to the admission end portions ofthecylinders, said cran'k shafts having crank portions and eachV crank portion being connected to a pair of pistons'l'ocated in adjacent' cylinders, the

crank portions ofthe leading crank` shafts' being connected to the exhaust portvcontrolling pistons andthe crank portions of the remaining crank shafts being connected 1to the admission port .controlling pistons, whereby the pistons controlling the exhaust porbsmay lead the pistons controlling the' admission ports in order. that -theexh'aust ports may open before the admi'ssionports and close before the latter, and means for interconnecting the crank shafts for operation in unison.

In testimony whereof,- -Ihave hereunto subscribed my name this second day of April, 1928. l

l LAURENT NnMo'niN 'cAUsAN 

